Fiona Ackerman | The Cosmic Tiger | 2021

Originally from Montreal, Fiona Ackerman studied painting at Concordia University and completed a BFA at Emily Carr University in 2002. With over 20 solo exhibitions (Canada, USA, Europe, UK and Asia), she has been represented by Galerie Kremers since 2016. In her third solo show at the gallery she dived into the subject of metamorphosis.

“Change and transformation are the ways of the world. Culture is always in a state of flux, the cycle of life preventing any form of static existence. However, the isolation imposed by the C-19 pandemic has created unique incubative conditions forcing us into what feels like a prolonged-metamorphic state.”

“There is nothing in the caterpillar that tells you it’s going to be a butterfly.” Buckminster Fuller

This quote serves as a metaphor for the nature of creative process in general and is also the motto of this show in particular.

“The title of the  exhibition “The Cosmic Tiger” sprung from may accidental misreading of the title of RA Wilson´s 1977 book The Cosmic Trigger. Once conjured, the image stuck: I’ve found no better symbol to tie together the inside of this creative collaboration (Fiona Ackerman refers to collaboration between her and the video artist and musician Arjan Miranda, in which the video “I am strange on the inside” was created) than the cat, enclosed in Schrödinger´s box, experiencing all possibilities at once. In our telling of the metamorphosis story the cat is a tiger, traveling an infinite universe of potential. Destination unknown.”